The Missoulian reports from Montana. "Missoula builder Joe Stanford doesn't need fancy statistics or color-coded foreclosure maps to tell him America's subprime mortgage crisis has arrived here. Like other builders and real estate agents, his deals have been scotched or delayed by buyers who first must sell their homes in stagnant markets. He's stuck when out-of-state buyers who want to relocate to his Lolo and Missoula residences can't sell their houses in Denver, Chicago and Los Angeles."

"'We've put deals together here, but everything is contingent on them selling their homes. They got into subprime loans and bought houses they couldn't afford unless they financed it with those. When the market dropped, they lost their chance to sell,' he said. 'I have multiple builder friends who've called me with the same concerns. I think the trickle-down will affect the economy.'"

"In Montana, about 22 percent of the loans were considered subprime, or 7,342 out of the 34,152 loans that originated in 2006, according to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act."

"Mary Marry, president of the Missoula Organization of Realtors, has several clients who are stuck, though. They must sell homes in Las Vegas and Arizona before they're able to purchase one here."

"Broker Sherril McCabe said there have been some jittery buyers. 'Everybody was looking at the national news. They sit at home and say, 'It'll be us next.' But we're never next,' McCabe said. 'They don't realize we're Missoula, Montana. We're different and always have been. It isn't doom and destruction in Montana; it isn't like other states.'"

"Agent Julie Lynch said sellers' homes are staying on the market longer, but the market is active. 'There was an overall price drop,' she said. 'It was difficult to explain in our market because people were used to seeing the prices increase more than they could believe.'"

"Last year at this time, Stanford had six homes presold in a Lolo subdivision and built a dozen during the year. He has gross sales of $2.4 million in 2007 - about double his 2006 sales - for his three-year-old firm, Homes In General."

"But with about 60 percent of his business derived from out-of-state clients who are in stale markets, he's uncertain how 2008 will unfold. 'I own 14 building lots in the subdivision and I'm concerned about what the winter holds for us,' Stanford said."

"Rebecca Babin, board secretary for the Missoula Building Industry Association, said builders report there are plenty of homes for sale in Missoula, especially in the $250,000 price range. Coupled with low interest rates, she said this is a good time to buy."

"'There is so much negative press that the public is losing sight that they can still buy a house,' said Babin, a real estate loan officer at Community Bank Missoula."

"Tighter credit is likely to alter the behavior of some homebuyers who have been living off the rising equity in their homes for years."

"'Maybe people shouldn't use their homes as an ATM. People have taken the equity out to pay off other debt,' Marry said. 'They got used to their homes appreciating enough and that is a dangerous thing to rely on.'"

The Idaho Statesman. "Idaho's housing foreclosure numbers have already more than doubled the total for all of last year, with December's figures yet to be tallied, according to a report."

"November's 667 filings were 11 percent above the previous month. Ada and Canyon counties accounted for 393 filings or 59 percent."

"Shaun Tracy, an associate broker with Re/Max Capital City., said that the spike in foreclosures might be just the medicine needed to cure the state's ailing single-family residential housing market."

"Tracy believes that as desperate homeowners slash their asking price housing affordability will return to the Treasure Valley, where the housing boom of 2005 and 2006 priced many area residents out of the market."

"According to the Intermountain MLS, the median price of an Ada County home has risen 43 percent since 2004, or from $169,900 to $232,900 at the end of 2006. Canyon County's median prices went from $107,0000 to $161,900, or an increase of 51 percent for the same two-year period."

"'It (the rise in foreclosures) might help re-establish where the market needs to be in order to stimulate sales,' Tracy said."

"Marc Lebowitz, CEO of the Ada County Association of Realtors, wasn't convinced that higher foreclosure numbers would translate into higher housing sales. 'Usually, when a person sells a house they buy another one,' he said. 'But some of these people are going to be forced into the rental market, at least for a while.'"

The Mail Tribune from Oregon. "During the housing boom earlier this decade, Larry Kellems' company built and sold 102 houses in 2004 and 96 in 2005. When the real estate market bellied up last year, Kellems didn't have to read about it. Overnight, the market dried up."

"He sold 17 units in 2006. Although 2007 has been marginally better — he sold 21 houses through November — Kellems was forced to make tough choices. And he's not alone."

"A review of the more than 750 default notices compiled by LandAmerica Lawyers Title suggests about 10 percent of mortgage defaults belong to builders or developers."

"Many builder-related defaults were to private lenders, who fronted money at higher than market rates. 'The smaller builders are the ones we've seen having issues,' says John L. Scott Real Estate agent Ron Galbreath, who has been involved in sales of property that went into default. 'You find some of the younger builders overextended themselves.'"

"When houses were moving rapidly, developers gobbled up property virtually any time and — all too often — at any price."

"'When things were going well, two, three, four years ago, we bought property for the future,' Kellems says. 'A lot of us got caught when the market changed. Some of us have been stuck with developments that we have been unable to sell very well and can't maintain the overhead to keep for future development.'"

"Kellems says he has a dozen projects in various stages of development. He also has a pair of development properties, totaling nearly four acres in Medford, that are going back to his lender, a local family trust."

"'It takes deep pockets so you can ride through these times when there is no cash flow,' Kellems says. 'It takes a certain amount of money every month to keep (payments) current. You've got to pick and choose which ones you want to keep.'"

"He sold the two lots now in default to other builders at the height of the market and then took the property back in July. 'It was their first time in development and I had to take it back,' Kellems says. 'They couldn't make the payments and then I couldn't make the payments and was stuck in the middle. It caused a ripple effect.'"

"Mark Knouff, one of the Falcon Meadows developers, believes timing was perhaps the biggest factor for investors who came late to the party and are now caught between falling values and payments reflective of peak prices."

"'We weren't building starter homes before (the White City project), but it was the right fit and a good value,' Knouff says. 'There was such a feeding-frenzy.'"

"'Everybody was buying there as quick as it was offered for sale. There was a trend — people thought they had missed out and saw this as another opportunity,' he says. 'A lot of people made money in a short period of time fixing up places and selling them ... and then there were a lot of people got in over their heads.'"

The Oregonian. "Portland's standing as a bright spot in the U.S. housing market eroded a bit in November, according to data released Tuesday. Homes also continue to take longer to sell and the inventory of unsold homes remains stubbornly high."

"And the worst may still be on its way. 'I'm not really sure we've found bottom,' said Jerry Johnson, a Portland housing economist."

"Nancy Wheeler can see the effects of the slowdown in a foursquare home on Northeast 21st Avenue. The freshly renovated house, which sits in Portland's popular Irvington neighborhood, has granite countertops and cherry wood cabinets. Wheeler, a broker for John L. Scott Real Estate, listed the home for sale in July for $800,000."

"She got no offers, so she lowered the price by $20,000 in September. That didn't bring any offers. She lowered the price by another $20,000 in October."

"Today, the home is still for sale at $759,900. High-priced homes, Wheeler says, are tough to sell in the slowing market because fewer buyers can afford a $4,000 monthly mortgage payment. 'There's lots and lots of homes for sale,' Wheeler said. 'It's just taking longer to sell.'"

"Wheeler's home also competes with more houses for sale than at any point in the past four years. The Regional MLS -- which lists 14,000 homes in Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties -- said closed sales fell by almost 20 percent in November. There were 2,249 closed sales in November 2006 and 1,623 in November 2007."

"Across the Columbia River, Clark County continued to struggle. Inventory is 11 months, and the median home value was up 2.5 percent to $260,000."

"Johnson predicts the region's home values will be flat in 2008. In other words, your house won't be worth any more in December 2008 than it is worth today. 'We've got to work out the inventory,' Johnson said, 'and it's going to take 2008 to do it.'"

The Olympian from Washington. "This was a healthy year for South Sound real estate sales though sales through November were down about 12 percent compared with 2006, according to Northwest MLS data for Thurston County. The market of 2005 and 2006 was active and resulted in record sales in 2006."

"'You just have to remember those years we were so over the top,' said Jeff Pust, general manager of Van Dorm Realty. 'We needed a correction year.'"

"Active listings of homes and condo have increased 86 percent from 2005, from 1,120 units late in 2005 to 2,087 units this November."

"Though the inventory of homes for sale has grown significantly the past two years, Pust is optimistic that buyers will absorb it. He said that’s partly because of low county unemployment and steady job creation. New Cabela’s and Kohl’s stores that opened in Lacey this year, and a Great Wolf Lodge resort expected to open in Grand Mound early next year will create about 1,000 retail jobs, Pust said."

"A small percentage of home­owners are struggling to make mortgage payments, Thurston County Auditor’s records show. Through Thursday of last week, the department had issued 635 notices of auctions to homeowners who were behind on their mortgage payments, compared to 435 issued all of last year, nearly a 46 percent increase in sent notices."

"'I don’t think we do have enough affordable housing,' said Ken Anderson, broker and owner of Coldwell Banker Evergreen Mortgage. 'We’ve seen examples of where people have overreached.'"

"At the same time, Anderson said that overall, 2007 was a year when lenders tightened up on liberal credit, some of which led to foreclosures. 'We’re glad to see a year like this,' he said. 'We can get rid of the speculation we’ve seen.'"

The Seattle PI from Washington. "King County had 767 foreclosure filings in November, up 127 percent from October and 93 percent from November 2006, according to RealtyTrac."

"Seattle-area foreclosures have been on the rise since the spring, said Stephen Routh, CEO of the state's largest handler of foreclosures, because softening prices have made it harder for people to sell their homes for as much as they owe."

"'These trends seem to wander up into the Northwest. The perfect storm is starting to descend on us here,' he said."

"'I would view that (surge) as an anomaly right now,' Routh said. 'If it happens again next month, then I'd scratch my head maybe and try to rethink that.'"

"As Seattle-area foreclosures have risen, King County's median house price declined by nearly 10 percent between July and November. The median price for houses and condos that sold in November was $405,000 in Seattle and $385,990 for all of King County, down from a year ago and from recent highs this summer, according to the Northwest MLS."